Simple Taskbar turns GNOME Shell's native panel into a configurable desktop taskbar. It combines pinned and running applications with GNOME's Activities, clock, calendar, Quick Settings and extension indicators, without replacing those Shell components.

Simple Taskbar currently supports GNOME Shell 50.

_{Taskbar mode using the dark and light themes.}

Simple Taskbar integrates with Blur My Shell for an optional translucent, blurred panel appearance.

_{The taskbar and Eleven-style Start Menu using a blurred appearance.}

• See pinned and running applications together on the panel.
• Combine application windows always, only when the taskbar is full, or never; buttons are always combined by default.
• Launch, focus, minimize and open new application windows from their icons.
• Preview open windows by hovering over an application.
• Optionally replace Alt+Tab with a responsive grid of live window previews.
• Use the taskbar on every monitor.
• Place the panel at the top or bottom of the screen.
• Align applications and the Start button to the left or center, independently or together.
• Move the clock and Quick Settings between the left, center and right.
• Mix application audio directly from Quick Settings.
• Adjust panel height, icon size, spacing, transparency and colour scheme.
• Use auto-hide, workspace scrolling and current-workspace isolation.
• Push against the bottom screen edge to toggle Overview.
• Open an Eleven-style Start Menu with pinned apps, search and recommendations.
• Switch to a native GNOME-style panel whenever taskbar applications are not wanted.

Default GNOME Panel mode normally keeps GNOME's startup Overview. When Ubuntu Dock or Dash to Dock is active, it starts on the desktop instead.

Both modes remain customizable after being enabled. Panel position, height, theme, item placement, multi-monitor support and other appearance settings continue to work. Because Default GNOME Panel mode hides taskbar applications and Start buttons, their placement controls and ordering arrows are disabled until Taskbar mode is restored.

_{Default GNOME Panel mode using dark and light themes.}

Simple Taskbar uses the same favourites and ordering as GNOME's original Dash. Pinning, unpinning or rearranging a favourite updates the Dash as well.

Application buttons support:

• Left click: launch, focus or minimize the application.
• Middle click: open a new window.
• Right click: open GNOME's application menu. Nautilus additionally shows Home, Desktop, Documents, Downloads, Music, Pictures and Videos shortcuts by default; these shortcuts can be disabled in the extension settings.
• Drag: while buttons are combined, rearrange favourites or drag a running application into the favourite section to pin it.
• Hover: show live previews for open windows. A preview can activate or close its exact window.

Running, focused and multi-window applications have dedicated indicators, with a choice of rounded or straight indicator ends. Clicking an application with multiple windows can spread only that application's windows across the Overview, including windows on other workspaces. The preview flyout remains available as an alternative.

The Combine Application Buttons setting provides three modes:

• Always: use one button for every application. This is the default.
• Only When Full: show a separate button for every window until they no longer fit. Visible window labels shrink evenly from 140px to a minimum of 40px before buttons are combined.
• Never: keep every window in a separate button regardless of available space.

Window labels are shown by default in Only When Full and Never modes and can be hidden to use separate icon-only buttons. If the resulting button list is wider than the available panel area, scroll over the applications with a mouse wheel or touchpad to reach buttons outside the visible area. Scrolling over applications does not trigger workspace switching.

Optional controls can:

• Show running applications from only the current workspace.
• Show running applications only on the taskbar for their monitor.
• Hide favourite applications that are not running.
• Lock the taskbar against accidental rearrangement.
• Show the desktop from a narrow button at either panel edge, or hide the button.

The Grid Alt-Tab window switcher is enabled by default and shows every open window as a live preview in a responsive grid. It preserves normal Alt+Tab and Shift+Alt+Tab selection behavior, supports pointer and arrow-key navigation, and activates the selected window when Alt is released.

All workspaces are included by default. Enable Isolate Workspaces on the Window Switching settings page to show windows from only the current workspace. Isolate Monitors limits the window list to the monitor where the switcher appears, while Show on Primary Monitor always places it on the primary display. Maximum Card Size limits how tall previews can grow while the grid continues to shrink them automatically as more windows are opened.

_{Grid Alt-Tab size, workspace and monitor controls.}

Less commonly used controls are hidden by default. Enable Show Advanced Settings at the top of the Taskbar settings page to show them in both the Taskbar and Start Menu settings. Hiding the controls does not reset their values.

The settings provide control over:

• Top or bottom panel placement.
• Panels on secondary monitors.
• 32–80px panel height.
• 15–48px application icons with 0–16px spacing.
• Automatic or explicit 0–20px horizontal padding around panel buttons. Automatic follows Just Perfection's button padding when that extension supplies it and otherwise uses a 3px fallback. An explicit value always takes precedence, without changing Just Perfection's own setting. Default GNOME Panel mode applies 12px and restores Automatic when Taskbar mode returns.
• Left or centered application alignment.
• Left or centered Start button placement, adjustable padding with a 3px default, and an icon selected from bundled GNOME and distribution designs or a personal image file. By default, the Start button follows the application alignment and appears immediately before centered applications.
• Separate Left, Center and Right lists for Start, Activities, applications, Folder Menu, Quick Settings, clock and Show Desktop.
• Each list includes a fixed-position box row representing other GNOME Shell and extension items. Managed items can be placed before or after that row, while the box itself cannot move to another list.
• Per-item placement where supported, with Move Up/Move Down restricted to neighbors in the same position list. Show Desktop remains limited to the Left and Right lists.
• The Icon Alignment and Start Button position controls remain available in their original sections and stay synchronized with their list rows.
• Visibility toggles for Activities, Show Desktop and Folder Menu above the order list.
• Light, dark or Shell-following themes.
• Adjustable transparency and Blur My Shell integration on the primary panel.
• Separate panel-border controls for the light and dark themes, both off by default.
• Animated auto-hide on every panel.
• A bottom hot edge that toggles Overview, with an optional ripple animation.
• Workspace switching by scrolling over empty panel space.
• Notification banners that follow the panel edge and clock alignment.
• Click-only switching between open panel menus.
• An application volume mixer in Quick Settings, enabled by default. Expand Mixer to adjust individual application streams or open GNOME's Volume Levels settings.
• A configurable Task Manager entry in the empty-panel context menu. Its searchable application selector defaults to Resources; if unavailable, the launcher falls back to GNOME System Monitor and then Mission Center.

Theme note: Follow system theme follows the GNOME Shell theme rather than the application colour preference alone. It switches to the light taskbar only when GNOME Shell itself uses a light theme after dark mode is disabled in Control Center. Ubuntu supports this through its light Yaru Shell theme. Stock GNOME installations, including Fedora's default configuration, keep the Shell dark when applications use light mode; select Light manually in the extension settings to use a light taskbar in that situation.

_{Adjust individual application volume from Quick Settings.}

_{General, application icon and panel appearance controls with Advanced Settings enabled.}

_{Taskbar behavior, panel item and reset controls with Advanced Settings enabled.}

Add a folder button to the panel for quickly opening files from a selected directory with their default applications.

_{Open files quickly from the optional custom folder menu.}

The Eleven-style Start Menu is enabled by default and includes:

• A separately configurable pinned-app grid with drag-and-drop reordering.
• GNOME global search, including system providers and results contributed by compatible extensions.
• An All Apps view organized into selectable categories by default. Categories can be disabled to use a single alphabetical list.
• An option to open the Start Menu directly in All Apps instead of the pinned applications page.
• Optional recommended applications based on frequently used apps, excluding applications already pinned to the Start Menu or taskbar.
• Scrollbars when the pinned or All Apps lists are taller than the available menu space.
• Delayed hover tooltips with the full application name and description.
• Keyboard navigation through applications and menu controls using Tab and the arrow keys.
• GNOME application context menus with open-window, launcher-action, App Details, Quit, Pin to Start and Pin to Taskbar actions. When a supported desktop-icons extension is active, applications can also add or remove a desktop shortcut.
• Dragging an application from All Apps onto the taskbar to pin it at the chosen position.
• An optional account profile picture in place of the generic footer avatar.
• An optional footer power menu with the system-available Suspend, Restart, Power Off, Lock Screen, Log Out and Switch User actions. It is enabled by default and replaces the original Quick Settings power menu while active.
• Dark, light and GNOME Shell theme options.
• Optional true monitor centering.
• Super opens the Start Menu by default and moves Overview to Super+Tab. The shortcut can instead use Super+Tab, a custom binding or be disabled.
• Super+E opens the home folder with the system’s default file manager by default and can be disabled.

Start Menu keyboard bindings are grouped in their own Keyboard Shortcuts section in the extension settings. Grid Alt-Tab and Super+Tab replace GNOME’s window-switcher handlers only while their owning options are enabled, without changing GNOME’s saved shortcuts. Super+E and custom Start Menu shortcuts must be unassigned elsewhere. The custom Start Menu shortcut cannot duplicate another enabled Simple Taskbar shortcut. Bare Super uses Mutter’s dedicated overlay key and restores its previous value when disabled.

The bottom hot edge is enabled by default, providing another quick way to use Overview after its Super shortcut has moved. Its ripple animation is optional and disabled by default.

The original GNOME Applications button can be restored instead, or both Start buttons can be hidden. Right-clicking the Eleven-style Start button opens its settings page.

_{The Eleven-style Start Menu using dark and light themes.}

_{Start button, Eleven-style Start Menu and keyboard shortcut controls with Advanced Settings enabled.}

Install Simple Taskbar from GNOME Extensions or Extension Manager.

To install the current source version:

git clone https://github.com/Sultech/simple-taskbar.git
cd simple-taskbar
./package.sh
gnome-extensions install --force \
    dist/simple-taskbar@sultech.shell-extension.zip
gnome-extensions enable simple-taskbar@sultech

Log out and back in if the running Shell does not discover a newly installed extension immediately.

Use Extension Manager, right-click empty taskbar space and choose Taskbar Settings, or run:

gnome-extensions prefs simple-taskbar@sultech

Reset All Settings restores the extension defaults without changing GNOME's taskbar favourites or Eleven Start Menu pins, including their order.

Simple Taskbar supports GNOME Shell 50. Other GNOME versions are deliberately not declared until they have been tested.

Because Simple Taskbar and Dash to Panel both restructure GNOME's main panel, Dash to Panel remains disabled while Simple Taskbar is active. Dash to Dock and Ubuntu Dock are disabled only while Taskbar mode is active so that two docks do not compete for the same screen edge. Both docks remain available in Default GNOME Panel mode.

Blur My Shell styles are supported on the primary panel. Secondary panels use Simple Taskbar's own background and transparency.

GNOME Shell caches imported extension modules for the lifetime of the Shell process. Disabling and re-enabling an extension cannot load edited JavaScript into that same process.

On Ubuntu, install the development dependencies:

sudo apt install mutter-dev-bin gettext

Then run:

./dev.sh

The helper compiles the GSettings schema, creates this development symlink and starts a fresh GNOME Shell 50 session in a window:

~/.local/share/gnome-shell/extensions/simple-taskbar@sultech
    -> /path/to/simple-taskbar

Close the nested Shell and run ./dev.sh again after changing JavaScript. The real desktop session remains running.

If a copied installation already occupies the destination, disable it and move or remove that directory before running the helper. Backup extension directories should not be kept under ~/.local/share/gnome-shell/extensions, because GNOME Shell still scans them.

Use Looking Glass or the journal when diagnosing runtime problems:

journalctl -f -o cat /usr/bin/gnome-shell

Building requires msgfmt from GNU gettext, glib-compile-schemas and gnome-extensions. Create the complete installable archive with:

./package.sh

The resulting archive is:

dist/simple-taskbar@sultech.shell-extension.zip

The package contains the runtime modules, preferences, schema, licence, bundled Start and distribution icons, their attribution notices and the compiled translations. Development scripts, translation sources and generated schema binaries are not included. An alternative output directory can be supplied:

./package.sh /tmp/simple-taskbar-package

Simple Taskbar does not collect telemetry, access the network or run bundled external programs.

gnome-extensions disable simple-taskbar@sultech
rm -rf ~/.local/share/gnome-shell/extensions/simple-taskbar@sultech

Simple Taskbar is distributed under GPL-2.0-or-later. Bundled third-party icon credits and trademark notices are listed in ASSET-CREDITS.md.